The finance industry has changed a lot because more people are using online banking. Instead of going to a physical bank, customers can now use their smartphones to check balances, deposit or transfer money, and pay bills.
However, to make sure everyone, including those with disabilities, can access financial services, companies need to create user-friendly experiences. For those who use videos, they should include closed captioning so that everyone can understand the content.
Why are Captions Important in Finance?
Did you know that around 80% of LinkedIn and 85% of Facebook users scroll through their feeds with the sound turned off? Many people browse social media in silent mode, whether they’re sneaking a look at videos at work or trying not to disturb someone at home.
This means that if your video content isn’t optimized, it might just blend into the background as people scroll past.
To make your videos stand out, it’s essential to include captions, or subtitles, in every post. Here are a few reasons why captions are so important:
1. Clear Communication
Captions help convey your message clearly. They provide context for what’s being said, ensuring that viewers who are watching without sound still understand the key points of your content.
2. Accessibility
Not everyone can hear audio, so captions make your content more accessible to those who are hearing impaired. This way, you’re including everyone in your audience.
3. Increased Engagement
Captions add an interactive element to your videos, making them more engaging. When viewers see moving text, they’re more likely to pay attention and stay focused on your content.
4. Boost Your SEO
One major benefit of having a transcript for your video or live stream is that it helps search engines, like Google, find your content more easily through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Since search engines can’t watch or listen to videos, they rely on text to understand what your content is about. By providing a transcript, you give search engines something to index.
This means that when you include captions, it’s a good idea to also make the full transcript or key highlights available. Doing this can improve your ranking in search results, leading to more views and greater exposure for your content.
Applications of Video Captioning in the Finance Industry
1. Marketing and Customer Education:
Financial companies like investment banks and advisors use video content to reach their clients. They create videos that help explain basic financial concepts or provide detailed market analysis.
These videos are often shared on platforms like YouTube, in webinars, or as podcasts. Captioning these videos makes the content more accessible and helps viewers better understand the information being shared.
2. Internal Training:
Financial institutions also create training videos for employees. Adding captions to these videos helps employees stay focused and makes the content easier to follow, ensuring everyone can access the information.
This approach boosts engagement and helps employees understand their training materials more effectively.
Accessibility and Compliance in the Financial Industry
Finance companies need video captioning for two main reasons: accessibility and legal compliance.
1. Accessibility
Financial companies want to make sure their services are easy for everyone to use. This includes people with hearing loss, which affects more than 5% of the world’s population.
Since many financial businesses use videos to reach their audience, adding captions is important to make sure that all customers can understand and access the content.
2. Compliance
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses, including financial companies, to be accessible to people with disabilities. As more services move online, the law is being applied to websites as well. To avoid legal issues, finance companies need to make sure their websites and videos meet accessibility standards.
What are the Common Captioning Challenges that Financial Services Companies Face?
1. Accuracy
When dealing with financial content, especially about stocks and investments, small mistakes can lead to big misunderstandings.
For instance, NASDAQ stock symbols like CRNT and CRMT may sound alike, but they represent different companies. If a video says “CRNT” but the captions show “CRMT,” viewers might get confused and make the wrong investment choice due to that error in the captions.
2. Workflow
Financial companies need a captioning system that fits well with their existing processes. Since they share videos across different platforms, they require a captioning solution that can seamlessly work with all of them. However, finding the right one can be a bit tricky, as it needs to meet the company’s specific needs without disrupting its workflow.
3. Cost
Financial companies need to find a captioning service that’s affordable but still accurate. The price for captioning services can differ depending on the provider.
It’s important to choose one that can offer good value, especially as the company’s video content grows. Finding a vendor that can adjust pricing as you scale can make things more manageable in the long run.
Closing Thoughts
Incorporating captions in finance-related videos is essential for better communication, accessibility, and compliance. It ensures that content is clear and inclusive, while also helping companies meet legal requirements. By addressing common challenges like accuracy and cost, financial businesses can improve their video strategy and reach a wider audience.